Bidders snatch up delinquent taxes

Wednesday

Oct 28, 2009 at 12:01 AMOct 28, 2009 at 1:02 PM

Property owners snubbed Winnebago County when it came time to pay more than 3,000 property tax bills this year, but more than two dozen savvy middlemen hope to make a tidy profit helping the county recoup the lost revenue.

Isaac Guerrero

Property owners snubbed Winnebago County when it came time to pay more than 3,000 property tax bills this year, but more than two dozen savvy middlemen hope to make a tidy profit helping the county recoup the lost revenue.

The county hosted its annual tax sale Tuesday where buyers — hailing from Rockford to Byron to California — snatched up $7,672,968 worth of delinquent taxes and attached up to 18 percent interest to the bill. If not for the annual tax sale, and for buyers such as Ed Beasley, that money wouldn’t flow to school districts, cities, villages, fire districts and other local taxing bodies.

Beasley, a Decatur resident, is among a nationwide industry of entrepreneurs and private companies that make a living buying delinquent taxes and betting that property owners will eventually make the payments, plus interest. Beasley came to Rockford on Tuesday fresh from a $15 million tax sale in Kane County.

“We go to tax sales in 25 counties a year,” Beasley said. “I’d say that 99 percent of the time, people redeem their taxes and you get paid your interest. It can be a good investment if you know what you’re doing.”

Tax sales can be risky, though, and people like Beasley often spend hours researching parcels they plan to bid on before attending the sale, said Winnebago County Treasurer Sue Goral, who, along with the county clerk’s office, oversees the process.

The tax sale is akin to a reverse auction. Registered tax buyers bid a percentage rate with a cap at 18 percent. The auction caller accepts the lowest bid to win. The property owner then has 30 months to buy back the taxes. Tax buyers make a profit from the interest they’ve assigned to their winning bid. The amount of interest they ultimately earn depends on how long it takes the homeowner to redeem the taxes.

But if 30 months pass and the property owner still hasn’t redeemed the taxes, the tax buyer lays claim to the property. Few buyers attend the tax sale to acquire property, Goral said. Selling a vacant lot or boarded-up house can be a hassle for a tax buyer, who gets stuck with a property he or she doesn’t want, she said.

“Unless you do your research, the tax sale is definitely not something for the novice,” Goral said.

Goral’s office reported 6,399 property tax delinquencies this year, the lowest number in two years. Tuesday’s tax sale, however, involved only 2,964 tax delinquencies. That’s because many of the owners also didn’t pay their tax bill last year. In those situations, the buyer of last year’s delinquent taxes gets first dibs on buying this year’s unpaid taxes before the bill is brought to the tax sale.

Isaac Guerrero can be reached at (815) 987-1394 or iguerrero@rrstar.com.